LUCAMA, NC – Air Doug saved his best for last in the penultimate race of Speed Week at Southern National Motorsports Park on Friday night.
Jared Fryar had dominated much of the 50-lap race, but Barnes closed the gap in the race’s final laps as the leaders worked through heavy lapped traffic. With three laps to go, Barnes used a lot of hustle and a little muscle to get past Fryar and drive away for the victory – his second in a row at Southern National.
“I knew we were coming up on lapped traffic and I was sitting there with five to go and I was going to be damned if I let them dictate a race,” Barnes said in victory lane. “When I got to them, I knew I had to make the most of it. I put the bumper to [Jared]. He’s always raced me clean so it’s not like I’m going to do anything dumb to him. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
In the closing laps, both drivers felt their cars going away.
“It kind of gets to the point that everybody’s car feels like trash,” Barnes explained. “It’s just whose car feels less trashier in a way. I feel like he’s probably thinking the same thing as I’m thinking. If I wasn’t here and he wasn’t here, then we wouldn’t have to run this hard, but I’ve been on his tail and he’s been on mine so we just have to push these cars to their limits and there are no laps off.”
Once Barnes got past Fryar, he was able to check out. Fryar had to settle for a runner-up finish.
“For the first 25 laps, I was really comfortable,” Fryar remarked. “I felt like I was in a good spot. The way I was running the car and the pace I was maintaining, I felt comfortable enough that I was going to have enough tire to the end. Then, with 10 to go, it spun the tires and it was over after that. We were better than Doug, then right before I caught that lapped car, I spun the tires and it was over. It was two-tenths off. Frustrating to lose one like that but we did the best we could do and nothing you can do about that.”
Ryan Wilson, who qualified on the pole, finished in the third position while Cody Kelley and Matt Cox rounded out the top-five.
Just months after starting out in bigger cars, after racing Karts when he was younger, 38-year-old Thomas Lee picked up the victory in the 35-lap Charger feature over Cody Griffin and former track champion Brandon Head.
“It’s a little overwhelming to be honest with you,” Lee said. “Me and my dad just jumped into this last year after I brought him to this race. We bought a Street Stock car, then bought this before Thanksgiving, got tore up, redid it over the winter time, brought it back and let it bring home a win. I haven’t been in Karts since I was 10 or 11.”
Ryan Zima extended his winning streak in Legends to three, but this time it was not as easy.
Scotty Benford had dominated much of the race after qualifying on the pole, but lost the lead when Nathan Williams got a jump on a controversial late race restart. Benford faded as Zima raced his way up to second. With six laps remaining, Zima was able to make the pass for the lead and the win.
“It was different, but I just kept calm and had a chance there at the end when the cautions came out and just took advantage of them,” Zima said. “The restarts, as soon as I got by a couple of them, I put them back in dirty air so they had a little trouble getting back to me and I knew I could control the field from there.”
Andrew Watson has been the dominant driver in the Any Car division at Southern National, but on Friday night, he met his match as it would be “Showtime” Sammy Pacitti who drove to victory lane. Shane Canipe drove past Robert Arch early and held him off to score the win in the Mini Stock race, while Landon Burbage picked up his second consecutive Bandolero victory with a late race pass on Rylan Speight.
Speed Week at Southern National will conclude on Saturday afternoon with Late Models, Chargers, Legends, Mini Stocks, Any Cars and Bandoleros all in action. The green flag will wave at 3:00pm.
Unofficial Results
Late Model Stock Car
|
Finish |
Start |
# |
Competitor |
Hometown |
|
1 |
3 |
88 |
Doug Barnes, Jr. |
Forest Hill, MD |
|
2 |
2 |
14 |
Jared Fryar |
Trinity, NC |
|
3 |
1 |
2 |
Ryan Wilson |
Randleman, NC |
|
4 |
5 |
98 |
Cody Kelley |
Hartsville, SC |
|
5 |
6 |
51C |
Matt Cox |
Little River, SC |
|
6 |
4 |
63 |
Tyler Matthews |
Richlands, NC |
|
7 |
11 |
4F |
Jonathan Findley |
Bristow, VA |
|
8 |
7 |
2B |
Lanie Buice |
Locust Grove, GA |
|
9 |
10 |
54 |
Michael Fose |
Jacksonville, VA |
|
10 |
8 |
15 |
Ryan Joyner |
Lucama, NC |
|
11 |
12 |
16C |
Casey Kelley |
|
|
12 |
9 |
1 |
Andrew Grady |
Youngsville, NC |
|
13 |
13 |
44 |
Dylan Newsome |
Goldsboro, NC |
|
14 |
15 |
8 |
Cassidy Kiett |
Hickory, NC |
|
15 |
14 |
6 |
Nathan Lyons |
Fort Worth, TX |
|
16 |
16 |
51 |
Gerald Benton |
Trenton, NC |
Charger
|
Finish |
Start |
# |
Competitor |
Hometown |
|
1 |
3 |
54L |
Thomas Lee |
Catawba, NC |
|
2 |
7 |
50 |
Cody Griffin |
|
|
3 |
1 |
16 |
Brandon Head |
Goldsboro, NC |
|
4 |
4 |
11 |
Timothy Brown |
Jacksonville, NC |
|
5 |
8 |
14 |
Davis Renfrow |
Kenly, NC |
|
6 |
11 |
50L |
Blake Lothian |
|
|
7 |
10 |
61 |
Michael O'Brien |
Mount Olive, NC |
|
8 |
6 |
42 |
London McKenzie |
Asheboro, NC |
|
9 |
5 |
21B |
Gerald Benton |
Trenton, NC |
|
10 |
9 |
J12 |
Wesley Johnson |
Tarboro, NC |
|
11 |
2 |
41 |
Austin Ferrell |
Nashville, NC |
Mini Stock
|
Finish |
Start |
# |
Competitor |
Hometown |
|
1 |
2 |
1 |
Shane Canipe |
Hickory, NC |
|
2 |
1 |
16 |
Robert Arch |
Clayton, NC |
|
3 |
5 |
81 |
Chuck Wall |
Lexington, NC |
|
4 |
4 |
72 |
Brandon Johnson |
Ridgeland , SC |
|
5 |
6 |
10 |
Landon Strickland |
Lucama, NC |
|
6 |
7 |
12 |
Jay Hemenway |
Wake Forest, NC |
|
7 |
3 |
24 |
AJ Sanders |
Mocksville, NC |
Legend Car
|
Finish |
Start |
# |
Competitor |
Hometown |
|
1 |
5 |
4W |
Ryan Zima |
Cleveland, NC |
|
2 |
3 |
11 |
Cody Carlton |
Camden, NC |
|
3 |
2 |
9 |
Brody Rhodes |
Bladenboro, NC |
|
4 |
1 |
51B |
Scotty Benford |
Swansboro, NC |
|
5 |
4 |
22C |
Chase Burgeson |
Yucaipa, CA |
|
6 |
7 |
12 |
Colton Hale |
Manteca, CA |
|
7 |
6 |
117 |
Nathan Williams |
Sparta, NC |
|
8 |
13 |
5X |
Jesse Martinez |
West Palm Beach, FL |
|
9 |
9 |
28 |
Oliver Missner |
Emerald Isle, NC |
|
10 |
8 |
34 |
Trent Dillard |
Wasila, AK |
|
11 |
21 |
48 |
Mason Weakley |
Virginia Beach, VA |
|
12 |
10 |
17P |
Josiah Phillips |
Blacklick, OH |
|
13 |
12 |
00C |
Aaron Crumpler |
Stantonsburg, NC |
|
14 |
11 |
36 |
Guy Howard Moore |
Emerald Isle, NC |
|
15 |
18 |
80H |
Art Hahn |
Hartford, WI |
|
16 |
15 |
19 |
Maddox Hooper |
Primm Springs, TN |
|
17 |
14 |
18 |
Tony Arnold |
Creedmoor, NC |
|
18 |
17 |
00J |
Ronnie Ray Jones |
Kenly, NC |
|
19 |
20 |
27 |
Diego Mendeztorres |
Lucama, NC |
|
20 |
22 |
T2 |
Camden Truett |
Myrtle Beach, SC |
|
21 |
16 |
80 |
Paityn Feyen |
Johnstown, CO |
|
22 |
19 |
316 |
Kaedin Ridenhour |
Linden, NC |
|
23 |
23 |
00 |
Josh Oomen |
Mallorytown, ON |
|
24 |
24 |
19H |
Brandon Hooker |
Marysville, IN |
|
25 |
25 |
13 |
Bret Hicks |
Palmyra, VA |
|
DNS |
26 |
72 |
Dylan Abramo |
Fort Mill, SC |
|
DNS |
27 |
13B |
Jacob Bradley |
Rockwell, NC |
|
DNS |
28 |
29W |
Aaron Wilmot |
Hammond, NY |
Bandolero
|
Finish |
Start |
# |
Competitor |
Hometown |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
Landon Burbage |
Washington, NC |
|
2 |
1 |
45 |
Rylan Speight |
Emerald Isle, NC |
|
3 |
4 |
30 |
David Bernier |
Middleboro, MA |
|
4 |
3 |
5 |
Corbin Cannon |
Conway, SC |
|
5 |
6 |
38 |
Penelope Carlisle |
Spotslyvania, VA, VA |
|
6 |
7 |
19 |
Grant Hooker |
Marysville, IN |
|
7 |
5 |
07 |
Brody Zacharias |
Moorseville, NC |
Any Car
|
Finish |
Start |
# |
Competitor |
Hometown |
|
1 |
1 |
43P |
Sam Pacitti |
Angier, NC |
|
2 |
5 |
08 |
Andrew Watson |
Raleigh, NC |
|
3 |
4 |
82 |
Dylan Page |
Fuquay Varina, NC |
|
4 |
8 |
08Z |
Mark Hood |
Willow springs, NC |
|
5 |
6 |
91 |
Timothy Medeiros |
Richlands, NC |
|
6 |
2 |
45 |
Mike Sliger |
Kenly, NC |
|
7 |
3 |
5 |
Joe Lazarczyk |
Farmville, VA |
|
8 |
7 |
75 |
James Barbour |
Waterford, MI |
